U.S. House majority leader stumps for Hill in LR

U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy stood in front of 350 miles of unused pipes at Welspun Tubular in Little Rock on Wednesday morning advocating for completion of the Keystone XL pipeline and promoting Arkansas Republicans.

McCarthy also visited Garland County before heading to similar campaign stops in Georgia and Colorado.

In Little Rock, McCarthy, a California Republican, stumped for 2nd Congressional District candidate French Hill, calling him a job creator. Standing at the storage lot for the Little Rock pipe manufacturer, McCarthy also panned Hill's Democratic rival, former North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Henry Hays, for signing two letters in 2011 asking for more environmental studies of the Keystone project.

Citing the letters, McCarthy said Hays "is out of step even with Democrats. He's too extreme. He's the progressive."

"We want to move forward to actually have an energy policy that makes us energy-independent, and that starts right here in Arkansas," McCarthy said. "It starts right here at Welspun, and it starts right here in November in the election, the difference between a job creator and someone who wants to stop it."

Hays, along with 23 mayors from other states, wrote then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March 2011 to express concerns about the pipeline's possible environmental impacts and the possibility it would "increase our dependence on this high carbon fuel for decades." The same mayors also signed a November 2011 letter sent to President Barack Obama asking him to deny the permit to build the pipeline as it was proposed at the time.

Hays' campaign manager, David Furr, said Hays had questions about a previous incarnation of the Keystone pipeline proposal but is satisfied with the current plan.

"Mayor Hays wanted to see an impact study, which was completed. There were also changes made to the route," Furr said. "Mayor Hays supports construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and that position has been on the campaign's website for nearly eight months. All French Hill had to do was Google it to find out that what he said today was flat wrong."

Welspun has been the site of several election-year stops in recent months. Besides outgoing 2nd District U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, Welspun has also seen visits by this year's U.S. Senate rivals -- incumbent Democratic Mark Pryor and Republican challenger and current 4th District U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton -- all of them urging that the pipeline project move forward.

After his stop in Little Rock, McCarthy went to Hot Springs to attend an afternoon campaign rally for 4th Congressional District candidate Bruce Westerman and was met by raucous applause from more than 50 people who crowded into the Garland County Republican Party headquarters.

Westerman, a Hot Springs Republican, is the majority leader for the Arkansas House until his term ends in January.

McCarthy spoke to the crowd about the importance of their votes and touted Westerman's credentials over his challenger, Democrat James Lee Witt, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"Bruce will come and vote for a conservative to be speaker; the Democratic nominee will vote for [former speaker of the U.S. House] Nancy Pelosi -- that's a big difference," he said. "I think voters know the importance of the state, but also the importance of the caliber of the candidates you have in Arkansas. They won't just be leaders for Arkansas; they'll help lead the nation."

Beau Bishop, a Witt spokesman, said Westerman has a lot in common with the California congressman.

"We are not surprised to see Rep. McCarthy in town promoting Bruce Westerman," Bishop said. "They both support [the budget proposal of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.] and efforts to cut benefits for our seniors, cuts to funding for early-childhood education and Pell grants, as well as charging interest on student loans while college students are still in school. This is just another example of Mr. Westerman being out of touch with common-sense Arkansas values."

McCarthy is one of several prominent Republicans visiting Arkansas this month. Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus have also campaigned in the state, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is to stump for Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson later this month.

"We are trying to get the voice out to everybody. This is a party that wants everyone to come," McCarthy said after the rally Wednesday. "The idea of changing the majority in the Senate, that's why you're seeing a great deal of people come here and why I talked. If there's ever a time to participate in an election, this election will determine a great deal for the direction of America."

Metro on 08/21/2014

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